Not getting enough sleep can result in a laundry list of negative consequences, including inattention, confusion, memory lapses, depression, headaches, irritability and increases in blood pressure and stress. It can also impair cognitive function, slow response time and decision making, and has been associated with a wide range of illness and disease. What do you think? Any of the above symptoms would impact your job negatively?

In positions when employees are responsible for dealing directly with customers and clients, the company’s bottom line can be negatively impacted. Sleep deprived workers are virtually alienating customers; obviously the happier the employee the more satisfied the customer.

It’s difficult to make it through your work day when you are tired. You consistently make mistakes, you lack patience with your co-workers and colleagues, you lack concentration in the details and you lack overall desire to be there.

Fatigue, coupled with lack of attention, can lead to errors in judgment and more on the job accidents. This can lead to difficult consequences for you and your company. You or a co-worker may be in a position that requires the operation of machinery, tools or electric gear. Even a minor impairment in your judgment—a miscalculation, a sluggish reaction time—can lead to severe harm and even death.

Clearly, sleep deprivation causes serious problems in both personal life and the workplace. It often is cited as a primary or secondary cause of industrial and motor vehicle accidents. It also has been cited as a reason for unscheduled absenteeism, which is at a five-year high.

Sleep deprivation negatively affects work performance-productivity and quality-and working relationships. Memory lapses increase and problem-solving abilities decline. Sleep-deprived employees can be moody and less tolerant of co-workers’ differing opinions, making them more prone to reactionary outbursts and other relationship-destroying behaviors.

Work relationship problems impact the entire organization. They contribute to inefficiency and job dissatisfaction. Work and relationship problems increase stress levels, which in turn exacerbate sleep problems. Combine sleep problems, added stress, and the anxiety sleep deprivation sufferers feel as they approach bedtime—will I have trouble falling asleep? Will I sleep through the night? Will I get enough sleep? The situation can appear hopeless. It’s not. Once diagnosed, most sleep disorders can be corrected.